Get the lead out - Nissan version
Hate to bash China again on their lead-based paints but these stories keep coming out again and again and again... This one is from the UK branch of
Reuters:
Test-drive a Nissan and win a lead-laced mug
TOKYO (Reuters) - Chinese merchandise took a fresh knock on Friday when car maker Nissan said it was recalling tens of thousands of mugs it gave away in Japan because the paint contains excessive lead.
It said it took the action after a hapless car-shopper fell ill after drinking from one of the mugs and complained.
Nissan Motor said the cups, which it was giving to anyone who test-drove one of its cars in Japan during a sales initiative that started on August 16, had a lead content that was more than 30 percent above the permissible level.
Japan's third-biggest carmaker said it would recall the mugs, which it said could have reached as many as 87,000 potential customers. It did not know the identity of the manufacturer in China.
If the poor sod was drinking something acidic, that would have leached a lot of the lead out into solution. Yikes! You would think that something as simple as "Don't Use Lead for Export Items" would be easy enough to follow.
(Lead was added to paint to make it flow better and it also makes the surface a lot more durable. Same sort of thing as PCBs and Asbestos, perfect for their job except for that little toxicity detail...)
Posted by DaveH at September 8, 2007 1:44 PM